secretary of state hillary clinton, scott, is calling today's vote counter-productive and unfortunate and places further obstacles in the path to peace. >> pelley: jim, thank you. our alan pizzey was in the west bank when word of the vote came through. ( cheering ) >> reporter: the celebration said everything about how much the vote meant to palestinians. observer status is still a long way from full member at the u.n. but scenes from ramaula's yasser arafat square, it's a huge step porward. according to longtime peace negotiator hannan ashrawi, today was all about recognition. >> getting state status is what empowers the palestinians, what defines our territory as occupied, what defines our relationship regionally and with the rest of the world, and what gives us access to international organizations and agencies. >> reporter: the israelis fear that the palestinians will use their new status to take israel to the international criminal court on charges of war crimes in gaza and elsewhere, which is why they and the u.s. fought against it. the reality is that little will change in the